FULL TEXTTeacher Credentials Correspondence
Below is the full text of the correspondence between Uriel Wittenberg and the Cambridge University administration relating to apparent misrepresentation of teacher credentials. It is unedited except for headers (email addresses have been converted to names) and elimination of duplicated text where noted. This webpage is referenced at False Claims by Cambridge?.
From: Uriel Wittenberg Greetings. Could you please advise regarding several apparent omissions in the faculty list at http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/faculty/index.htm ? Alison Hennegan, Alexander Lindsay and Stewart Eames are not listed, although I thought they are English faculty members. Thanks in advance, Uriel Wittenberg
From: Jen Pollard
If these people were once members of the Faculty, they are no longer.
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From: Uriel Wittenberg Dear Ms. Ormrod and Dr. Parker, May I ask you to explain the response below from the Cambridge English faculty to my inquiry concerning Alison Hennegan, Alexander Lindsay and Stewart Eames? Each is described in the English lit summer school timetable handbook and elsewhere as "Member of the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge." Yet the Faculty of English seems to disagree. Is there a misunderstanding? Regards, Uriel [Jen Pollard's message reproduced here.]
From: Sarah Ormrod Dear Mr Wittenberg I have been investigating this matter. We make every effort to be accurate at time of going to press, but changes of title do happen from time to time, and we will check all information in the current brochure to make sure it is up to date. Membership of the Faculties can be periodic and renewable, and in any case Faculty lists with memberships of many types are sometimes 'tidied' - so that certain categories of membership are not displayed on websites. In this case, this has been without the knowledge of those whose names are removed, so that they - and we - were unaware of this when printing our material. The three lecturers whose names you cited are taking the matter up with the English Faculty, and I gather that two are already being restored to the list, with apology. Sarah Ormrod
From: Uriel Wittenberg Dear Sarah, Thanks for the information. The response from the English dept. seemed fairly categorical. I have to wonder to what extent "membership" in the department is a matter of semantics. I think summer program participants would assume that an English Faculty member is someone who teaches at least one Cambridge English Dept. course which leads to credit towards a Cambridge University degree. Would that be correct? Also, the three people I named weren't an exhaustive list of the anomalies. Could you please confirm reasonably up-to-date information on the teachers and plenary lecturers, and advise me of all inaccuracies in the green printed timetable I have? Sorry if this is a bit troublesome, but I think as a customer I'm entitled to this information. Sincerely, Uriel
From: Uriel Wittenberg Dear Sarah, Hello again. If you're declining to respond, could you please just confirm for me that you've received my message? Regards, Uriel
From: Sarah Ormrod Message received.
From: Uriel Wittenberg Dear Dr. Kate Pretty and Prof. Richard Taylor, I was one of the students in the Cambridge English literature summer program last month. After the program concluded and I'd returned home to Toronto, I discovered that some teachers in the program who were described to students as "Members of the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge" actually appear not to be. I wrote to the English Faculty to inquire, and they confirmed that three teachers I'd inquired about are not English Faculty Members. I then wrote to inquire of Sarah Ormrod, the Director of International Programmes. She offered a reply which I think is unsatisfactory, and she has refused to elaborate. The correspondence is reproduced below. May I request your assistance in clarifying the situation? Sincerely, Uriel Wittenberg [correspondence reproduced]
From: Sarah Ormrod Students studying towards a degree at Cambridge do not earn credit: the UK system is different. The teaching structure in Cambridge is complex: the advice I have been given is that the list of members of the Faculty is up-dated annually. I can confirm that all of the information in the brochure and the printed timetable for 2005 was as 'reasonably up-to-date' as possible at the time of going to press. As such, I think our participants had the information they were entitled to. If changes are made to records - changes of which we were not aware - then all we can do refresh our records for the next academical cycle. Sarah Ormrod
From: Uriel Wittenberg Sarah, it must be obvious to you that I am inquiring about apparent improprieties. The message from the English Faculty could not have been more plain: "If these people were once members of the Faculty, they are no longer." I think you might therefore have foreseen that your latest response could not put an end to my concerns. - What does "as 'reasonably up-to-date' as possible" mean? - How could I be reassured to hear that "the advice [you] have been given" is that there's no problem? - Are the "changes to records of which we were not aware" an acknowledgement that 2005 students were given incorrect information -- which will be fixed "for the next academical cycle"? I think the right thing for you to do at this point is just what I requested in my earlier message: - Satisfy yourself of up-to-date information, which you are prepared to personally endorse, on each teacher and plenary lecturer. - Respond openly to my inquiry by advising of all inaccuracies in the green printed timetable I have. Additionally, if there is substantially inaccurate info, it would probably be a good idea to notify the 2005 students and issue a public notice of some kind. Sincerely, Uriel
From: Uriel Wittenberg Dear Dr. Kate Pretty and Prof. Richard Taylor, I've received no response to my message to you of a week ago. Since writing to you, I did receive a further message from Sarah Ormrod. My reply to her explains that I have still not received a satisfactory response to my concerns. Both messages are reproduced below. I would hope one of you could at this point respond to my query concerning the appearance of false claims by the summer program. Sincerely, Uriel Wittenberg [correspondence reproduced]
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